Ashes to Ashes
by ruumpleteazah
Summary: After everything Sinyon has ever known was literally burned to the ground, he and his sister, Aya, move to the nearby village of Hinamizawa. But what dark secrets are his new friends, especially Yoko Sonozaki, hiding? Hinamizawa may not be all it seems...
1. Part 1: Prologue: Welcome

**Hello all! Welcome to Ashes to Ashes a.k.a. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kimochi: Demon Descending Chapter. This is an epilogue to Matsuribayashi-hen, with the story of what happened after Rika, Hanyuu, and everyone else broke through the barrier of June 1983! (hint: They all grew up and had kids XD) I know this isn't the sequel I'm supposed to be working on to When the Cicadas Cry, but really, I haven't been inspired for that sequel yet... anyways! **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong><em>Prologue: Welcome<em>**

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><p><em>Day of wrath, that day of burning,<em>

_ Seer and Sibyl speak concerning, _

_All the world to ashes turning._

_-Abraham Coles, Dies Irae_

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><p>As the flames roared hotter behind me, I took my sister's hand and started to run.<p>

The sharp branches and tree roots underfoot stung terribly as we ran through the warm air of the darkest part of the morning, my labored breathing the only sound I could hear; the screams of those trapped in the disaster had faded long ago. The fire that had consumed our village with its burning hand only minutes earlier was advancing rapidly through the forest; the atmosphere was full of smoke and ashes, making it harder to see as we stumbled along the vague path before us. I could feel my sweaty, long silver hair plastered against my neck, my heart pounding into my chest – I was so scared, so much so that I wanted to just collapse and start screaming and crying in grief – but I had to be strong for Aya. She looked up to me as her older brother, and I couldn't let her down now, even as our whole lives had been ripped away from us within a matter of minutes.

"S-Sinyon," she whispered, so low that I could barely hear her. I heard her take a shaky breath and she started coughing, a horrible racking cough that reminded me of the years she'd gotten sick with the flu. I halted, despite the burning in my legs that urged me to keep going, and pulled her closer to me in an almost hug. I rubbed her head, my fingers tangling into her red-brown hair.

"We're – gonna – die," she managed between coughs. I felt my shirt go wet with her tears; I felt like crying myself.

"We're not," I reassured her, glancing over her shoulder, seeing the flames hop from tree to tree like sprightly rabbits. "We need to get out of the forest, Aya. Standing here crying isn't going to get us anywhere."

She looked up at me briefly with a nod, her blue eyes swimming in tears. "O-Okay. I believe you."

Turning on my heel, I increased speed again – were the flames closer? – as Aya fell into step beside me. We seemed to be the only two who had escaped. My chest tightened, thinking of all the people who were probably dead – several of my friends, including Kukai and Akira; Kimiko-obaa-san, my grandmother; the old man down the street who always said hello to me as I walked home from school; my mom, Okaa-san—

_Okaa-s—_

It almost felt like the world dropped out from under me then; I tripped over a large root, falling flat onto my face, spasms of pain wreaking havoc within my body. _This hurts worse than the stinging of the twigs as I ran, _I thought, as little black dots hovered at the edge of my vision. As I turned my head to the side, I tried to breathe, and I could feel the scalding ashes running down my throat. Tears welled up in my eyes from the pain. Aya was screaming my name. I wanted to tell her I was alright, that we could still escape – but I saw the houses aflame in the distance and my heart dropped into my stomach. As the air grew ever hotter, I knew we were going to die; why hadn't I listened to Aya before and just given up?

The screams became muffled and the flames soon did a taunting dance in front of my face; so warm, so warm they were. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I could hear a repetitive beeping sound as the burning ashes fell upon my skin, my eyes, and I could no longer see. It was almost like the ticking of a clock – each beep counting down the last seconds of my life—

_5… 4… 3… 2… 1…_

_Wake up._

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><p><em>~Friday, June 18<em>_th__, Heisei 22 – Irie Clinic – 5:54 p.m.~_

"Oh, he's waking up."

I moaned quietly, not paying attention to the girl's voice that had just spoken. I could still feel the ashes scalding my skin; still hear the beeping in the background, though this time louder. But the ground under me felt wrong. It was soft, but still warm like the ash-covered ground had been. Taking a risk, I blinked and opened my eyes, closing them back again immediately against the sun's harsh light streaming through the window. _Was it all a dream? The ashes – the sun. The beeping…?_

I looked up, away from the sun, toward the ceiling, above me and a little to my left was one of the tall heart monitors you only really see on medical dramas. So I was in a hospital? But how did I…?

"Fascinated by the ceiling?" The girl's voice again made me lose my train of thought. My eyes lowered to a slender girl in front of me, a small yet bright smile going across her face as she took off her white nurses' hat, revealing jade green hair cut so short I would have thought she was a boy at first glance. Her bangs slightly obscured her dull yet intriguing blue-green eyes. At first I thought I recognized her. Did I?

She obviously noticed my look of confusion and said with a small giggle, "I guess Dr. Irie-san was right; you probably wouldn't remember me." She took a rolling chair from the other side of the room and brought it over, smoothing her nurse's dress behind her before sitting down. With a small bow of her head, she introduced herself. "I'm Sonozaki Yoko. I work here part-time as an apprentice to Dr. Kyosuke Irie-san. But you can just can me Yoko if you like. You don't have to be too formal with me."

I blinked at her, but finally found the strength to give a small smile back. "Atarashi—"

"Sinyon. I know." Yoko stood and went to the intravenous drip chamber and poured a yellow liquid into it from a test tube. I watched it flow from the bag down into the IV in my arm as she spoke. "I just wanted to know – do you remember anything from the past two weeks?"

"Two weeks?" I said, incredulous. I was in the hospital for two weeks? I remembered the fire, sure, but what was a little fire to two weeks worth of hospital time? "Um." I blinked, trying to reach back into the recesses of my memory. It was all a bit hazy, but the memories were there. I could remember how I kicked and screamed as I was dragged into here, I remembered refusing to eat for a time – boy, I was such a brat! — and I _did _remember Yoko. She was the only one who had the patience to convince the other nurses that I was just going through PTSD from the disaster. "Yeah, I remember a little."

Yoko finished her work and looked down at me. "You were in a medically-induced coma for that first week. The second week we woke you up and you got a little better about handling yourself, but Irie-san wanted to keep for a little while longer. Probably to check out a little more on the internal bleeding you got from running through the forest all the way here. Irie-san said you could leave today though, so that's good!"

At that time, I could only form one conscious thought: _At least I'm alive._ "But where is here?"

Yoko smiled again, going over to the window and raising the blinds to reveal a large plain full of trees houses, and children playing outside. The sunlight glinted off her green hair as she said, "Welcome to Hinamizawa."

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><p><em>~Friday, June 18<em>_th__, Heisei 22 – Irie Clinic – 6:07 p.m.~_

"Oh, Sinyon! Darling, I thought you were going to be in that hospital for who knows how long!"

My mother enveloped me into a large hug the second after I came out the bathroom from changing into my street clothes she'd brought. I tensed slightly from the abruptness of the embrace, but soon I found myself hugging her back. I hadn't realized how much I had missed her. She ran her hands down my ponytailed hair before pulling me back to look into my eyes. Her emerald eyes brimmed with tears and a smile rose on her face. "We've missed you. The new house is set up already, and your room is too – I just couldn't help myself!" She chuckled. "I just know you're going to love it here, Sinyon. Aya's been waiti-"

"Onii-chan!"

My mother stepped away and then I saw Aya, standing by the glass door looking better than ever. Her hair was pulled back into its trademark two ponytails, the sun behind her making it look more red than brown. She ran toward me and crushed me into a hug as well – somewhere behind me I heard our mother giggle.

"You're here! You're really here… and alive… sometimes when I miss you so much, I'd think you were dead… but you're not!"

I sighed. I liked affection, especially from my family, but this was a bit too much. Despite that, I hugged her back anyway. "Yeah, I'm very much alive, Aya."

She stepped back and smiled brightly at me. Aya was fourteen – we were two years apart – but sometimes she acted so much younger. I had to admit, I loved my sister to pieces. I was glad my whole family was alive too – I don't know what I would have done had I been the only survivor of the fire. I grinned back, feeling at right with the world for the first time in two weeks.

"Hey, Aya-chan, Sinyon-san."

I looked over at Yoko, who was hanging up her nurses' outfit by the door. She turned to us and said, "Would you like for me to show you around the village? I mean, we do all have school tomorrow, so I figure you'd want to get a feeling for the aura of Hinamizawa first."

Aya nodded rapidly. "Sure!"

I nodded and glanced back at my mom, who waved us off with her hand. "You two go have fun. I'm going to chat some more with Irie-san." She glanced briefly at Irie's office on the hall behind her, and he peeked his head out the door as if on cue; though his face was lined with age and his brown hair showing signs of gray, he seemed to be much younger than he appeared.

"Feeling alright, Sinyon-san?" He asked kindly.

"Yes, sir. Much better." I nodded at him and made to speak again, but I jolted and turned around when I felt a hand clasp into mine; Aya was bouncing up and down with excitement as she swung my hand back and forth.

"Let's go!" She said happily. I rolled my eyes. I had such a weird little sister.

Yoko smiled, cocking her head to the side slightly. She glanced right at me and said, "You sure, Sinyon? I mean, you just got discharged today and all…"

"I'm fine with it." And I was. Fresh air would do me some good, and it was the heat of the summer now; I liked the hot. I was already sure Hinamizawa would treat me well, though, but a little road trip wouldn't hurt.

Yoko pushed open the door and Aya dragged me on ahead before I even got to pay my respects to my mom and the doctor, and I nearly stumbled over myself when we ran out into the evening sunset. The gravel under my feet as we ran reminded me of my old village; the familiar sound of leaves rustling and children calling "Oni-san, come to where my hands clap!" arose nostalgia in me. Hinamizawa was going to feel just like home, I was sure.

Aya let go of my hand and turned around, smiling at me as she ran. "Come catch me!" She called, speeding up.

"Hey! Aya!" I grunted good-naturedly and took off, hearing Yoko laugh behind me. Despite having only just met her, I knew that if she, Aya, and I could have days like this all the time, then we would become the best of friends.

_If only days like this could go on forever…_

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><p><em>~Friday, June 18<em>_th__, Heisei 22 – Atarashi residence – 6:58 p.m.~_

I looked out at the waning sunset again briefly before lowering my eyes back to Yoko; she gave Aya a hug before turning and bowing to me.

"Sinyon-san, I hope you had a great time today."

Though it felt a little formal, I bowed back. "Thank you, Yoko-san." There was so much in Hinamizawa she'd shown us – the junkyard, the school, her house, Furude Shrine, even the path where she and some of her friends walked home from school every day – I couldn't even begin to sort out how many places we'd seen. My favorite was the bridge over the water – Aya, however fell in love with the junkyard, which I found odd. And Yoko had told me that this village only had a little over two-thousand people, which was hard to believe, since the village was quite big, in my opinion. But apparently it wasn't extremely large, since everybody knew everybody. I doubted it.

I rose and watched Yoko walk down the path from our house, waving all the while. "See you tomorrow!" She called. "I'll be waiting at eight o'clock to walk with you guys to school! I'll tell you a whole bunch more about our village too!"

Aya smiled, shouting back. "Bye-bye!"

I waved to Yoko, a smile creeping over my face. Today was great, and I hoped tomorrow was to be better. In mean, it was school. New people, new teachers, new academics – but the school was small, only thirty people, so it wouldn't be too bad…

I heard the door slam behind me, signaling that Aya had went in. I stayed out, feeling the warm summer wind blow across my bare arms and whip my ponytail back and forth. So, except for the fact that I was in a drug-induced coma for a week, nothing had changed. Village life seemed to be the same as before– rural and happy, just like I was used to. The cry of the _higurashi_ cicadas filled my ears and I closed my eyes, enjoying this summer day – though I was sure there would be more like it. After all, the month wasn't over yet.

And I planned on making this June of Heisei 22 the best June I could ever imagine.

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><p><strong>A few notes:<strong>

**(1) Heisei 22 is the Japanese name for the year 2010.**

**(2) Okaa-san means mother/mom.**

**I hope you enjoyed the prologue! Next chapter is when we meet all of the next-generation Hinamizawa kids and when we get to see a bit more of who Yoko is~**

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Lukia**


	2. Part 1: Chapter 1: Dirty Little Secret

**Here is chapter 1~! This chapter took a week of planning and two weeks of writing, so I hope it shows!**

**Enjoy~**

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><p><strong>Part 1: Chapter 1: Dirty Little Secret<strong>

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><p><em>~Saturday, June 19<em>_th__, Heisei 22 –Atarashi residence – 7:10 a.m.~_

"Sinyon! You're going to be late!"

Groggily, I put my pillow over my head and tried to tune out my mother's annoying nagging. How I hated Saturday school. Just because it only lasted half a regular school day didn't make it any better; it was still school. Then I remembered I was supposed to meet Yoko at eight this morning…

_Darn. That means I _have _to get up._

Throwing the pillow across the room, I slowly opened my eyes, glad that curtains weren't open and everything was still dark. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stretched, scanning my room with my eyes. It was still bare, boxes in random places through out the room. I hadn't bothered to unpack last night, so that meant I was going to have to spend the rest of the day doing it after I got home from school.

I swore, grabbing the brush on my nightstand and starting to run through the tangles in my long hair as I walked about the room, stepping over boxes to open up the dresser drawer opposite my bed – _Well,_ I thought, peering inside the drawer, _Mom was at least nice enough to put my uniforms up._ I never dressed too casual or too formal when it came to school, and I figured a simple white polo and black slacks would suffice for my first day here.

After getting dressed and pulling back my hair into its trademark ponytail, I almost flung open the door and flew down the stairs, ready to see what breakfast Mom had made – but I saw the triangle shaped piece of paper on the door and my hand stopped just short of the gilded doorknob. I could only wonder who I was from – obviously either Aya or Mom – but if they needed to tell me something, why put it in a note?

I stopped contemplating and ripped the note from the door, unfolding it and scanning the words.

_Sinyon-onii-chan,_

_I hope you read this before you leave. I just wanted to tell you I left home early so I could go to the junkyard before school! I hope that's not a problem. Give Yoko-san my regards, please?_

_-Aya_

I couldn't help but give a little chuckle as I read over the note again. The junkyard? Aya had completely fallen in love with that place yesterday, but leaving early? I shook my head and tucked the note into my pocket, starting down the wooden stairs. Aya really was odd at times. What was she thinking about finding in a junkyard?

I turned into the kitchen, which was bright and awash with the sun's light coming from the windows. Mom was cooking an omelet, and my nose turned up at the tangy smell so early in the morning. I glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was 7:30.

With a sigh, I walked over to my mother and gazed at the sizzling eggs in the pan on the stove. "You said I was going to be late."

"I wasn't expecting you to get dressed so fast." She affectionately squeezed my shoulder, going over to a second pan and stirring the rice inside. "You know it takes you a while."

"Well," I gave a shrug, gazing out the windows above the sink, which was conveniently placed across the island stove-top. "Today is different, I guess."

My mother laughed the high, tinkling laugh she was known for back in our village. "Just because you're meeting a girl to walk you to school?"

"N-No. Not at all," I stammered, my face quickly going hot. It never failed with my mom; when it came to a girl, she always had to pick on me about it. I guess she thought it was cute. I thought it was embarrassing.

I heard the sizzle in the pan stop and the omelet roll onto a plate. "Don't worry about it, Sinyon. Just hurry up and eat before your food gets cold."

"Yeah, yeah." I blew her off, not unkindly, as I continued to stare out the window at the few houses lining our street and the sunrise beyond. Was morning always this beautiful? I recalled my life in my old village for a moment; I would wake up late frequently and end up running out our house minutes before the school late bell rang, so I guess I never got time to ever appreciate the sun.

But still, Hinamizawa's sunrise seemed… different somehow. Darker, maybe? Like the sun was trying to hide behind the wisps of gray-white clouds on the horizon, playing a sprightly game of hide-and-seek with the atmosphere… I cocked my head as the sun rose slight higher in the sky, only wondering one thing—

What could it be hiding _from_?

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><p><em>~Saturday, June 19<em>_th__, Heisei 22 –outside the Atarashi residence – 8:01 a.m.~_

"Mornin'!" Yoko called as she walked up the small path to my house. I'd been busying myself with adjusting my shoulder bag's strap, so my head snapped up in surprise when I heard her voice.

"Morning, Yoko-san," I replied with a small smile.

She returned the smile, coming to a full stop in front of me. Her brow furrowed in confusion a moment later and she peered around me, looking toward the house. "Where's Aya-chan?"

I gently tugged her back to face me. "Aya left early to go check out the junkyard again."

Yoko raised an eyebrow at me, turning and starting to walk away from me house, beckoning me to follow. I caught up with her quickly, and she pulled down her navy blue skirt before asking a slightly sad "Why?"

I shrugged, kicking a stray rock out of my path, trying to figure out what reason my sister would use."I don't know. Apparently she thought she might find something interesting there."

Yoko giggled nervously as we made the turn off my street, and we continued on a worn dirt path with grasses lining either side. "Funny you say that…"

Now was my turn to ask questions. I looked down at the green-haired girl, watching as she tensed slightly. "Hm? Why?"

Yoko sighed, gazing up at the blue sky. "Oh, nothing. Just there was a dam construction project down there about thirty years ago, that made the junkyard what it is today."

"Really?" I said, intrigued. Yoko had said last night she was going to tell me a little bit more about Hinamizawa anyway, so I figured I might as well keep the conversation going. "What happened?"

"I really don't know all the details," she said, looking up at me briefly. I thought I saw worry in her eyes. "But anyways, Tokyo was threatening to submerge Hinamizawa underwater and dam it up to create a reservoir, and our village fought back with protests and resistance movements. The government eventually relented and put the project on an indefinite postponement. But that was a while ago, and I'm pretty sure they're not going to come back anytime soon!" She smiled widely.

"Yeah…" I swallowed hard, and soon I saw the school in the distance. It was just as shabby as it had been the day before, however, the story Yoko had told me had unnerved me a bit and took my attention off the school. "So the protests alone won out? That's pretty nice of Tokyo. Considering they were going to completely destroy the village… there wasn't any violence, or—"

"I really don't know."

I flinched at how she had cut me off so quickly. I glanced down at her and saw her eyes hard and opaque, but they were so full of life in the next instant I was sure I must have been imagining it all. "Yoko…?"

"Hm?" Yoko tucked a strand of short green hair behind her ear and raised her head slightly to meet my eyes. Her eyes were bright and blue-green, just as I knew they would be. _So I was imagining it._

"…So I guess the Hinamizawans were happy about the victory, huh?" I said on the spur of the moment to cover up my loss for words.

She nodded, her bangs falling over her eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't really tell you more… I learned that way back in middle school, so it's a bit scant."

"No problem," I replied, looking up and stopping as we reached the school. Up close, it wasn't a bad building at all – though I could tell it was only one story tall, and a few window panes were broken in places. To tell the truth, it reminded me of my old school. Children of all ages, many wearing uniforms – at least I wasn't out of place dress-wise— were scattered across the front yard, either talking happily or playing a game of tag.

Yoko tugged on my shirt, pointing over to where two girls were sitting on bench near the front double doors. I looked in that direction immediately recognized Aya, her two ponytails bouncing as she talked, and another girl sitting next to her with long purple waves of hair and somewhat clouded eyes.

"There's Aya-chan," Yoko said, "and it looks like she's made friends with Sakuya-chan already. How nice!" I heard her laugh quietly.

Well, at least Aya was being social. One less thing I would have to worry about with her. "Sakuya…"

"Furude." Yoko finished for me. "She's a part of the three great houses of Hinamizawa, like me! And she's a real nice girl too. I've _never _seen her be mean to anyone. Your sister chose a good person to be friends with." Seconds later she was running ahead of me toward the double doors. "Come on, Si-chan! I want you meet everyone else, and homeroom doesn't last forever, ya know!"

I made to follow her, walking at a steady pace with my hands behind my head. Yoko was quite a cheery girl, but I could only wonder why she had outright cut my sentence short when I'd pressed for more about the dam project. Was it she was trying to protect me from any mention of violence until I fully recovered from the events of the fire?... Yes, that's what it was. That way it all made sense. Yoko didn't seem like the type to hide things, and if she was, would she have been nice enough to show us nearly every secret in each nook and cranny of the village?

_No, not at all. Dang, Sinyon,_ I chided myself. _Quit worrying!_

I slowed my pace as I came closer to the double doors, passing by Aya and Sakuya. My little sister didn't seem to notice me, but I have a tendency to eavesdrop, so I strained my ears to hear what they were chatting about. Just to see if it was anything interesting.

"…didn't back down, huh?" I heard my sister's voice, full of excitement.

"Yes," Sakuya replied, her voice quiet and reserved. "But it wasn't that simple, Aya-san. After it was resolved, there was quite a bit of violence that followed…"

Wait. _Wait._ Were they talking about the dam project? What came after that Yoko refused to tell me…?

The door swung open before me, and Yoko stood there with sly expression on her face. "Whatcha doing out there, Sinyon-chan? Your brain seems to be somewhere in outer space lately!" With a sigh, she pulled me in to the school so fast I had no way to tell her I was busy, well, eavesdropping.

"But Yoko, I—"

"No buts!" She crossed her arms, playfully narrowing her eyes at me. "You remind me of Akane-obatcha! Always having an excuse!" She grabbed my sleeve and pulled me down the semi-dark hallway – I had noticed Yoko was prone to dragging people, especially me. "We've got twenty minutes until we break off into grade sections!"

I returned her scolding with sigh of my own, as I turned around and looked back at the doorway. Was it really just coincidence that Yoko showed up just as I was about to hear the secret of the dam project? They again, Sakuya and Aya could have been talking about some violence here at the school, or a dispute between who owned a patch of land… but I couldn't shake the feeling that something fishy was going on.

_It's nerves. You're just imagining it. Lighten up!_

I decided to take the advice of my conscience, for once, as I turned back to see where Yoko was dragging me next.

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><p><em>~Saturday, June 19<em>_th__, Heisei 22 –Hinamizawa School– 8:25 a.m.~_

"Introducing our newest students – Atarashi Aya-chan and Atarashi Sinyon-san!"

My sister – who had caught up to us with Sakuya on the way inside – and I were greeted with thunderous applause and cheers when Yoko gave us our grand entrance as we entered the classroom. The space didn't have many people, since many of the other students were still outside, but the noise was still loud. This was obviously the homeroom Yoko meant, since there were kids of all ages either sitting on desks or writing at the chalkboard. Aya waved to everyone, and I nodded respectively and was about to find a seat, but not before Yoko grabbed me, pulled out a wooden chair and sat me into a seat in the back of the room. Sitting on the desk next to me was a blond haired boy not much older than me, fidgeting with the hem of his half-tucked in shirt.

"Seto! How rude!" Yoko scolded loudly, causing the blond boy to jump and nearly fall off the desk. I suppressed a smirk as he plopped into the seat, a lazy smile on his face. "Sorry 'bout that, cousin."

"You better be!" Yoko turned her nose up and went about the room, calling for someone named Yuki.

Seto looked down at me and rolled his eyes. "She must be having a bad day. Girls… Anyway," he smiled at me, "I'm Houjou Seto. Nice ta meet ya, Atarashi-san."

"Call me Sinyon," I added with a nod. "Yoko's your cousin?"

"Yeah." He turned away from me, tracing patterns on his desk with his fingers. "My uncle Satoshi married her mom. Yoko treats me like I'm the leeching scum of the human race of if I don't 'behave' as she likes to call it. I can't help it, I'm a guy."

I glanced back and forth from Yoko to Seto. Though related, the two looked nothing alike. Probably because of their hair colors. "I bet you wish you had green hair like hers," I joked.

"Green? Noooo. Considering I can't really tell what green is."

"Hm?" I looked up at him in confusion. "You're colorblind?"

"Completely." He nodded as a little girl with hair in ponytails the same color as Yoko's came up and gave him what my mother would call a "bear hug"."And so is my little cousin here—Yuki-chan."

"Nii-nii, I'm glad to see you being social!" The little girl I assumed was Yuki - she must have been no older than twelve - smiled at me, her grin lighting up her bright red eyes.

I smiled back as Seto said, "I told you I'm not your nii-nii. Go and annoy your sister." He pointed in Yoko's direction.

"You'll always be my nii-nii, Nii-nii!" She replied with a pout, scampering off.

Seto laid his head on his desk and groaned. "I'm hope your sister's not that annoying. Then I have to deal with three irritating females swarming around me like a horde of bees."

"Well…" I glanced over at Sakuya, who was sitting in the corner of the room reading. "What about Sakuya?"

"I can deal with her." Seto smirked at me. "It's just when she starts talking in riddles she gets weird."

"Riddles, huh?" I mumbled as Aya came over and stood in front of my desk. I looked up at her. "Hey. I got your note this morning, now what do you want?"

She rolled her eyes before her face exploded into a grin. "Sakuya-chan and I are in the same grade! Isn't that awesome?"

"Yay?" I said sarcastically, but then I remembered about earlier—just what were she and Sakuya talking about? "Hey, Aya? What were you and Sakuya chatting about this morning? I thought it was maybe something that Yoko and I were talking about too, like a construction project or—"

"Nothing. We weren't talking about anything."

I flinched for the second time that morning, and noticed Aya's cold, hard stare, just like Yoko's had been earlier. "What do you mean, 'nothing'? I saw you guys talking!"

And in an instant, she was smiling again, her eyes bright. "I mean nothing you would want to know about. Girl stuff, ya know?"

"Yeah…" I said as the bell rang, making a high trilling sound. Aya waved to me and scampered out the door with Sakuya. Many other students left as well, and a few entered from outside, and when the teacher came in there was a grand total of ten of us high-schoolers, including Yoko, Seto, and I.

The teacher, with her short blue-gray hair and shining blue eyes to match, was old but quite nice. After she had me introduce myself to the class, I slunk back down in my seat and let myself get lost in my thoughts as she taught – I already knew the material, so it was perfectly fine.

Yoko outright rejected me when I asked for more information about the dam project. Aya refused to even tell me what she and Sakuya were talking about that morning. It was odd, really, especially the way they looked – so wickedly dangerous, as if they didn't want me to know. Maybe it really was that Yoko didn't remember all the details, and maybe Aya was just being a regular teenage girl with Sakuya. _Maybe. _Before I had thought it was for protection, but now I wasn't so sure.

In the end I decided to blow it off again. It had to be nothing.

_But then again,_ I thought, _are they really entitled to keep their secrets?_

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><p><em>~Saturday, June 19<em>_th__, Heisei 22 –outside Hinamizawa School – 11:30 a.m.~_

Finally, lunchtime rolled around, and Seto, Yoko, and I all agreed to eat outside. The sun had rose high in the sky, but it wasn't too hot, and as a bonus, it was breezy, which cooled down the humid air a lot.

I wasn't really hungry, which wasn't abnormal for me. I watched Yoko eat her sushi, and Seto munched on an apple before going to play baseball with some of the other guys – he invited me to come, but I stayed behind by the tree we sat under, gazing out at the rolling grasses sill covered with dew from earlier in the day.

I heard Yoko rummaging around in her bag and I looked over at her next to me as she pulled out a small black case from a pocket in her schoolbag.

"What's that? Glasses?" I asked out of curiosity, wondering why she had never shown them to me before.

She glanced at me, snapping open the case and revealing a syringe inside filled with watery yellow liquid. "I have diabetes," she said blandly as she removed the cap on the needle and stuck the pointed medical tool it slowly into her arm with a wince. As she pressed down on the syringe, she continued. "So does my sister."

_So Yuki's colorblind and has diabetes? Poor girl,_ I thought, glancing over at the group of girls Yuki was in as they laughed about something.

"That must be rough," I said when I heard Yoko snap the case closed.

"Not really," she replied. "We get used to it."

I shrugged, letting the conversation fall dead. I got up and went for a walk soon after, telling Yoko I would be back soon. I started around the school slowly, trying to keep in the present and not slip back into my thoughts. I'd keep my mind on the grass, on what we were going to have for dinner, anything to keep my mind off of—

I paused abruptly when I heard grunting. Not really grunting, so to speak, but more like noises of struggle.

_Sakuya had been talking about some violence. That may or may not have involved the dam project. If it was here at school…!_

I kept walking, sweat going down the back of my neck. The sound was coming from behind the school, and it sounded like a female going "Hup… hup…". I tensed and braced myself for the worst, turning the corner slowly…

There was Sakuya in a gym uniform, holding a hoe pointed directly at me.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing with that, Sakuya-san?" I stammered as she smiled at me playfully, putting the ornately decorated hoe by her side. It looked at little heavy for her because she struggled as she set it down.

"I'm practicing for the Cotton Drifting Festival tomorrow," she said. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"No, it's fine." I smiled back, glad nobody had gotten hurt – her or myself. "What's the Cotton Drifting Festival?"

"It's a festival held every third Sunday in June here in Hinamizawa," Sakuya replied brightly. "The Furude priest or priestess – that's me—cuts open a futon made of cotton in a ritual dance. Then everyone in the village gets a piece and sends it down the river to send the villagers' yearly sins drifting away!" She smiled happily. "It's more fun than it sounds. This year is my third year as the priestess, and I'd love if you could come, Sinyon-san!"

I nodded, a smile lighting up my face as well. We never had any ritual festivals back in my old village, so this was sure to be fun. "I'd love to come."

"Great!" Sakuya chirped, giggling.

I decided to let my thoughts rush in then. If I couldn't get any information out of Aya, I might as well try Sakuya. "Sakuya, I was just wondering… I saw you and my sister talking this morning, and I just wanted to know what you might be talking about…"

"Oh…" Sakuya said, her voice becoming slightly more melancholy. "We were just talking about the Hinamizawa Dam Project. Have you heard of it?"

"Yeah," I replied, wondering why Aya could just have _told _me that. "I know that Hinamizawa was supposed to be turned into a reservoir but the village retaliated and won against the government. There was also some violence too, wasn't there?"

Sakuya laced her hands together. "Yes… in the years following the resolution of the project, about 1979 to 1982, something strange began to happen at the Watanagashi Festival. Someone died and someone went missing the day of or after the festival, usually those who supported the dam project or were against the village altogether. These deaths came to be known as the curse of Oyashiro, Hinamizawa's deity." She looked up at me, her smile happy but her eyes sad. "We know now that the curse never existed, and it was only used as a cover-up for a mastermind's plan to wipe out the village for the purpose of a disease's research… it's really confusing, but hey, anything about the history of Hinamizawa is confusing!"

"Hm." That was a lot to take in. I already had made up in my mind the curse didn't exist when Sakuya was only halfway through her speech, but I had to admit, it was interesting. "It's an intriguing story, Sakuya-san."

She nodded. "It's hard to believe people are still so adamant about the curse, even thought it's be proven it doesn't exist… but don't worry about it, Sinyon-san."

"I won't… I guess I'll let you keep practicing. See you later, Sakuya-san." I waved as I turned and walked away, and she waved back before picking up her hoe again.

Before long I was back in the school's front yard, shading the sun from my vision with my hand, hearing the children's playful laughs and shouts all around me. At least Sakuya had told me the truth. What would Aya and Yoko need to keep secret about that for? Again, maybe they thought I was still fragile from the fire, but they didn't have to be so creepy about it.

Even though everything was resolved, I still felt uneasy, like a lump in my throat wouldn't go away. Maybe it was the Watanagashi tomorrow. Maybe I was just excited about going… or maybe I thought something would happen there?

_The murders were a long time ago, Sinyon. This is the twenty-first century. Things have changed._

Despite my self-consoling, it was hard to make myself believe I was right.

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><p><strong>Next chapter is the Watanagashi, where I have one more new character to add to the story before it really gets going. I know you've probably already picked out the similarities to other arcs in this chapter, but I assure you it's not going that direction - there are lots of traps in this story, and it's very easy to fall for them.<strong>

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Lukia**


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